The Country Maiden: Fields and Leisure
Chapter 637 - 635: Like Falling into an Ice Cellar

Chapter 637: Chapter 635: Like Falling into an Ice Cellar

Trembling, Wang Yongan fished out a snuff bottle from his bosom, picked out a bit of ointment, and smeared it under everyone’s nose.

Soon, the Wang Family people gradually came to.

They looked around and were startled to see Wang Yongan: "Why are you still here?"

Wang Yongan didn’t bother with anything else and grabbed Wang Yonggui to ask, "Did you see my little sister?"

"Little sister?" Wang Yonggui had just woken up and his head was still a bit groggy, he casually replied: "Isn’t my little sister with us?"

While talking, he looked around the room, realized they were in the courtyard of an inn and felt reassured. But when he saw Wang Yongan’s complexion, Wang Yonggui grew suspicious.

He rolled out of the bed and ran to the next room.

Old Granny Zhang had also just woken up, feeling light-headed, and then saw Wang Yonggui rush in. He glanced around the room, his voice changing: "Mother, have you seen Zhuzhu?"

Old Granny Zhang was still a bit out of it: "Isn’t your little sister right here with me—"

Looking left and right, and seeing no one, she said, "What do you need your little sister for? Isn’t she in the courtyard? That’s not right, weren’t we eating at the front just now? How did we get back to our room?"

Old Granny Zhang also realized something was off.

Wang Yonggui’s voice was dry and hoarse: "Something must have happened to little sister! That beast, Yongping, there was something wrong with the lunch! We all passed out, he must have drugged us! Now that little sister is missing and he’s in the next room, still asking us about little sister’s whereabouts—"

Old Granny Zhang’s vision darkened, blood rushed to her head, and she nearly collapsed onto the bed.

Shaking her head, she managed to clear her thoughts and extended a hand: "Laosan, help me over—"

Wang Yonggui quickly helped Old Granny Zhang off the bed and they both rushed to the adjacent room.

At this moment, Wang Yongan was grilling Jinhoo, asking if he had seen Wang Yongzhu.

Old Granny Zhang also saw Wang Yongan and suddenly felt neither dizzy nor blurry-eyed. She was filled with strength and pounced on him, knocking Wang Yongan to the ground.

Another light snap came from Wang Yongan’s injured wrist, causing him to black out from the pain.

Then the scalp felt intense pain as Old Granny Zhang’s hand clutched his hair tightly, her knee pressing against his waist, and despite his struggle, he was powerless to get up.

The people standing to one side thought to help but then heard what was going on. This was a family affair, and it wouldn’t be appropriate for them to interfere.

Although it looked like a furious conflict, this mother and son wouldn’t hold grudges for long. By tomorrow everything would be fine, but the bystanders would be blamed from both sides.

So they all silently moved aside and acted like indifferent bystanders.

"Speak, where did you take Yongzhu?" Old Granny Zhang’s eyes were seething with hate. Her eldest daughter, her Yongzhu, her heart and soul—if anything happened to her, she wouldn’t let Wang Yongan off with his life!

Wang Yongan was stammering and still unwilling to speak.

A voice came from the doorway: "This man, today, he invited a few guests to eat with him. Not long after, he was seen assisting that girl out, saying that you all drank a little too much and offering to take you back to your rooms."

"I was at the front helping to lead the way, while he was behind. I didn’t expect that he would take the opportunity when I wasn’t paying attention to drag the girl out and said he shoved her into a sedan chair and had her carried away—"

Everyone turned and saw the waiter standing at the door, righteous indignation in his posture. Behind him stood several men holding clubs, glaring menacingly at Wang Yongan.

Upon hearing these words, everyone understood.

Wang Yongan had drugged all of them and then had Wang Yongzhu carried away.

Old Granny Zhang slapped him across the face: "Speak, where have you taken your sister? If you don’t tell me today, I’ll grab a knife and finish you off first—"

Wang Yongan desperately shook his head: "I also don’t know where little sister has gone."

As soon as Wang Yongping heard, he stepped forward and kicked twice, "You bastard! Where did you take my little sister? Speak up—"

Wang Yonggui also came up and threw two punches, "Are you going to talk or not? If you don’t spill it today, don’t even think about leaving—"

Overwhelmed by pain, Wang Yongan hurriedly said, "I don’t know either, I put her in the sedan chair, and then halfway someone snatched her away. If I knew where she was, would I come to ask you?"

As soon as Old Granny Zhang heard this, she collapsed, sobbing loudly, "You murderous beast! Heartless and conscienceless scoundrel! How could you not even spare your own sister! I’m telling you, if anything happens to your sister, I’ll stake my life to make you pay—"

While crying, she fiercely pinched Wang Yongan a few times.

Then she cried again, "My Zhuzhu, where are you—"

Wang Yongan saw that Old Granny Zhang was only concerned with crying over Wang Yongzhu. He relaxed his hold and, with a roll, moved to the side, trying to run outside.

He was stopped by Wang Yongping and Wang Yonggui, who gave him a brutal beating.

Driven to desperation by the beating, Wang Yongan shouted, "Even if you beat me to death, the person is still gone! With this spare time, you might as well go look for her!"

Wang Yonggui and Wang Yongping exchanged glances before giving Wang Yongan two more kicks and then hurriedly rushed outside.

Wang Yongan caught an opportunity and made a gesture to the people he brought, also planning to run out.

Just at the entrance of the courtyard, they were all blocked by the second eldest brother.

"Trying to run? Brothers, take good care of him! Let him know what happens when someone causes trouble in our inn, thinking they can just leave as if nothing happened. If we don’t show him some colors, later any Tom, Dick or Harry will dare to act recklessly in our inn! How then can we continue doing business?"

No sooner had he said this than several strong men cornered Wang Yongan and swarmed up on him.

They were professionals at beating people.

They picked spots that were painful but wouldn’t leave any obvious marks, making Wang Yongan roll and cry on the ground, nothing like the graceful demeanor he had during the day.

The bystanders looked at each other in confusion, not sure whether to step in and help or what to do.

They weren’t newcomers to Qi City like Wang Yongan; they had been living there for many years. While others might not know the background of this inn, they had heard rumors.

The previous County Magistrate had taken a liking to this inn and had said arrogantly that if the innkeeper did not agree with him, he would make sure the inn couldn’t operate in Qi City.

However, within a few months, the inn was still doing fine, but the County Magistrate couldn’t keep his position.

All these old foxes watched it closely, remembering it in their hearts, and placed this inn on their list of entities not to offend.

But Wang Yongan was, after all, the new favorite of the current County Magistrate; they couldn’t actually let him be beaten to a serious extent, could they?

So when the beating seemed enough, they exchanged glances, grabbed Wang Yongan, and ran outside. Only after running quite a distance did they finally put Wang Yongan down.

Wang Yongan was both angry and anxious, his words expressing blame towards his men for not helping and laughing at his plight.

The subordinates, feeling impatient inside, didn’t dare to truly offend Wang Yongan and vaguely explained the background of the inn. They also advised Wang Yongan, "Master Wang, in our opinion, it’s unlikely your sister will be found now. Qi City is so big, and since someone was prepared to snatch your sister, it won’t be easy."

"Exactly, it’s already dark now, making her even harder to find. Moreover, a young woman spending the night outside is mostly—well, it’s probably not possible to send her to Lord Gao now. Master Wang, rather than that, you might want to think of some other solution."

...

Wang Yongan was shocked as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.

Indeed, how could he have failed to realize that in these times, a single woman spending an unclear night outside wouldn’t have a reputation left to speak of?

Who could guarantee Wang Yongzhu’s chastity? Sending such an impure woman to the County Magistrate, that wouldn’t be currying favor, it would be creating an enemy!